The device relates to coin acceptors in use on gaming tables that are standard to the industry. The acceptors in use today are designed to accept a particular chip or token on live gaming tables. The acceptors are located in front of each player station and controlled by the dealer pushing a button to accept the token or coin. A wiring harness and associated circuitry are electronically connected to the acceptor to activate the solenoid attached to the acceptor to pull back and let the chip or token pass through a series of optical sensors that activate the system to do what it was intended for it to accomplish. Some types of gaming token acceptors are used for card gaming tables. A good example would be for the games of Caribbean Stud Poker, Twenty One and 3 card poker. The acceptors use an electrical solenoid to accomplish their objective. The solenoid located below a top plate opening sized and configured to accommodate the drop path of the gaming token (as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,818 coin acceptor including multi-state visual indicator apparatus and method), acts as a stop and cannot detect what size of chip or token is placed in the slot and therefore will let the wager pass through. The solenoid plunger (being very sensitive) when wet by a drink or moisture from the players own hands will stick or stop functioning and therefore, have to be cleaned or replaced. Other times the coils overheat and have to be replaced causing a down time for that particular player station.
The present invention relates to a controllable interactive coin gate. The gate can be installed on any live table game. It can be preset to accept any size coin or token so the operator of the gaming establishment does not have to replace or change the plate or acceptor slot and not have to worry about one particular size of token or chip. Using a servo motor (that is standard to the industry) can be adjusted to either manually or electronically size the coin without removing the coin slot. By positioning the servo motor at the front or rear of the slot, the servo motor can be adjusted electronically to move a given distance and return to its starting position point to accept a certain size coin. The coin gate servo motor is connected to a computer that is programmed for the different size of coins or tokens. Using the coin gate, the operator can reduce at his convenience the amount of wager without changing the coin acceptor slots. For example, if the minimum bet is one dollar and the operator wants to change the minimum to a twenty-five cent or fifty cent minimum wager he can do so by entering the amount in the computer. The servo motor will automatically adjust the amount of travel of the plunger for the smaller wager. The operator then simply places the smaller wager adapter in the slot for the denomination that is to be bet. The torque of the servo motor will overcome most types of fluids or moisture simply because it is geared internally to push or pull with force. The adjustable coin acceptor gate can be set in the open position for multiple wagers depending on the players"" amount to be wagered by using a series of three infrared phototransistors as the receivers of light and light emitting diodes as the dispatchers of light or coin switches (that are standard to the industry). For example, if the player would like to bet three dollars, the player would simply press the 3 credit button on the panel and the coin acceptor gate would stay open for the insertion of three tokens. After the tokens pass the coin counter switch or infrared phototransistor and light emitting diode the gate would automatically close. The player would then have three credits added to their station to play their game without inserting a token every hand. The computer would keep track of all wagers inserted and deduct it from their total wager as the game progressed. A series of three coin switches or infrared phototransistors and light emitting diodes would be used to count the amount wagered. The first infrared phototransistor and light emitting diode would be positioned just below the top plate. As the player inserts the token or coin, a sound and light would activate letting the dealer know that the betting action has begun. The dealer would press his accept button and observe that the coins or tokens have been inserted into the slot. The second infrared phototransistor and light emitting diode or switch mounted below the coin gate plunger would count and add the amount wagered and record it to memory for the computer to deduct it from the total amount bet. The third infrared phototransistor and light emitting diode or switch will activate the player station to participate in the game. Once the game has started in the computer, the gate would automatically close and reset to one token or coin until the dealer accepts the wager or wagers all over again.